A couple of us were at primary school together too but most of us met at 11 when we started at our local comprehensive. Things we thought long forgotten we have reminded each other of and strangley we are all quite similar people. Shared values from an era or a type of education, I'm not quite sure what it is but after 43 years apart we have managed to pick up where we left off. This is me just after I started at secondary school aged 11.
I'm not sure what a pshycologist would make of our little group as there is one thing I am sure of we haven't really changed! The kind chatterbox little girl is a kind chatterbox woman, the shy girl who never pushed herself forward is just the same as a woman, the school maamish sensible girl is a school maamish sensible woman, the cheeky jokey pair of boys who were best friends are a pair of cheeky jokey men who are best freiends, and so it goes on. We have all met up a few times and have had such a laugh.
But the person who has amazed me most is the naughty boy! When I say naughty boy he was really naughty! Confident, good looking, he ruled the boys and was fancied by the girls. I shall call him Dave but that is not his name. Likeable and funny but totally uncontrollable, it was a terrible mixture for the teachers to deal with. If any of the boys stepped out of line Dave would hold a meeting of his inner circle and a "beating up" would be organised. Terrible though this sounds, Dave hated bullying, and that would be a typical "crime" which I think is why it was so rare in our year. Any girl in our year that had a leaning towards bullying would hide these kinds of traits from him as they all wanted to look good infront of Dave.
In our school the boys were caned, by the deputy head on a Monday morning as a punishment for any very bad behaviour the week before. It always done in front of the class a bit like a public execution. Dave was caned weekly as he made all the teachers lives hell. After a few light strokes for all the others, the deputy head would be purple with rage as he meeted out Dave's prolonged punishment. I can remember it still, at the end of the beating Dave would give the deputy head a dirty look and saunter back to his seat with a waft of Brut aftershave and a smirk for the class. It had definitely become a battle of wills. I can't remember what the final breaking point was but at just turned 15 he was expelled from the school with a final warning he would amount to nothing. How wrong those teachers were.
He has nine lovely children he adores, and a successful business he honestly toils at all week to keep them in the style he wants them to be brought up in, which includes a swimming pool and a stableblock and yard adjacent to his house with numerous horses. When we are all out together I've noticed he is still the one who organises the rounds of drinks and when we eat. He is a larger than life man with the biggest, kindest heart you could meet. One thing he is adamant about though is he won't hear a word against the old deputy head, now long dead. "Lovely man, God bless him!" he says. "Made me the man I am today!".It's a strange world.
Well it's the start of a new week, Scarlett will be here shortly for the day and as Tom is off we are going to take her out somewhere if this rain clears up. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx
